


sugar

by ultraviolet289



Series: the spider & stone collection [1]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, F/M, One Shot, rini - Freeform, spider and stone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:15:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28206717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultraviolet289/pseuds/ultraviolet289
Summary: Nini runs into two familiar faces on her day out with Rickyorthe spider faces her past
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Series: the spider & stone collection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066286
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	sugar

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to the very first one-shot in the Spider & Stone collection!
> 
> I first want to say, thank you guys so much for the support and feedback on "a spider and a stone heart." Seriously guys, I can't say it enough--ya'll give me to motivation to write.
> 
> I just love these versions of the characters so much that i can't let them go yet.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING!!-- this one-shot depicts drug use and some implied non-consenual relations, so if that triggers you, please be careful!
> 
> Also, @alwayslatetotheparty please respond to the response I wrote to you on your last comment in spider and stone! Idk if you check responses to your comments, but i want to talk to you about your one shot idea! Anyway, I love you sm j thought I'd add that.
> 
> Enjoy!

His lips crushed against hers, hot and fast and desperate. She could barely catch her breath, swallowing whatever she was going to say, now long forgotten.

Ricky dropped the shopping bags he was holding, hands now snaking around her waist, crushing her against him. Nini couldn’t think of anything to do except run her hands through his hair, feeling the warmth of him opposed to the cold, hard brick wall she was being pushed against. He deepened the kiss, and Nini almost succumbed to what felt like a drug, the drug of Ricky’s love, but she felt a breeze sweep past her brow and put a hand to his chest, pushing him away.

“Ricky, we can’t.” She spoke breathlessly.

“Darling, sure we can.” He leaned back in but she pushed again.

“ _No_ we can’t because we’re in public, you pig.”

Ricky chuckled. “I would barely call this public.”

“Just because you drag us into an alleyway doesn’t mean we’re suddenly in a private honeymoon suite.” Nini reprimanded him, pushing him away even further. “This was supposed to be a nice, _simple_ date.”

“It has been nice and simple!” Ricky argued. He brushed his thumb along her navel. She felt her heart jump into her throat. “But it could _also_ be fun if you made out with me for a little longer—”

“You are unbelievable!” She shoved him off of her, face flushed and lips extra pink. He looked the same—hair untamed and ridiculously pink. It was hard to resist him, but she would grasp on to her last shred of dignity before any more pedestrians saw her making out with her boyfriend in an _alley._

Just one calm, mundane day. That’s all she wanted. The past few weeks have been work, work, work. The Aces were on a roll. Heist after heist. And don’t get Nini wrong, she loved going on them, and she loved fighting and sparring and looting—but she’s had enough gang business to last her the next few months. Nini hadn’t been…sane enough in _years_ to have a regular, normal person day. Shopping, going out for lunch, a walk through the park.

And he wanted to spend her normal day with Ricky.

However, he was making in _increasingly_ difficult.

 _“_ Now let’s go,” Nini picked up some of the shopping bags that they had dropped, leaving the heavy ones for Ricky to carry. “They’re having a sale at the boutique downtown and at that antique store. I saw a _really_ pretty dagger in the display case last week.” She started walking away. “I wanna see if they still have it.”

“Darling, I don’t know why you’re so worried about sales right now—we have all of that cash from last week.” He chased her, shopping bags rustling against each other, as she started leaving the alley without him.

“I know, but you know I love bargain hunting,” she said as the pair started down the sidewalk. Nini caught her reflection in a glass window and gasped.

“Jesus, Ricky! My hair!” Nini reached up with her free hand to brush her hair down. “You animal, you messed it all up! Why didn’t you tell me I looked crazy?!”

He laughed—a rumbling sound that made Nini feel warm and safe. “I thought you looked cute!” He argued. She gave him a death glare. He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. “Nini, you always look beautiful.”  
“Oh, shut up, will you?” Nini huffed, fixing the last couple of strands. “Kiss-ass” she mumbled.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Ricky had a look of betrayal on his face.

“I said— _you are a goddamn kiss-ass—_ ”

“Nina?”

A pit formed in Nini’s stomach at the familiar female voice. She froze, not knowing what the hell to do. _She hadn’t heard that voice in what—five, maybe six years?_ And the last time she heard it, it had been filled with sorrow. Disappointment. _Anger._

She turned her head slowly to view the woman standing in front of her. _Fuck._ Was all Nini could think. _Fucking shit._ There were two women actually. One blonde, one dark haired. Both slack-jawed and looking as if they were seeing a ghost. No—not a ghost, a demon. A demon that they had banished to hell themselves, and now they looked terrified.

It was her moms.

Nini sucked in a breath.

She remembered the day all too clearly. It was etched—seared into her brain forever.

* * *

_Her face felt dry, cracked. And the inside of her mouth was sticky, a bitter taste filling her senses. Nini’s cheek was pressed into something cold. Something rather large and hard poked into her stomach. Her hands…she couldn’t really feel them. Or maybe she could. She tried moving a finger. She felt…something. A twitch? It was all too fuzzy to be sure._

_And she heard…yelling. Yelling of a word—a name? It was more like an indiscernible sound._

_She creaked open her eyes only for blinding light to seep through. Nini winced, and tried again. She was on…the floor? There was broken glass and something wet in front of her. Was that blood? No, wine. No, she was just seeing things, it was a clear liquid. Or was it? Maybe it was something clear and her blood all mixed together._

_Nini pushed her self up. Her arms felt weak, maybe a little sore. She looked below her to find a whiskey bottle was the source of the poking. And it was indeed blood that was spread everywhere, for she had cuts all over her hands—most likely from the glass._

What the fuck happened? _A voice echoed in her head—her voice, though it was unrecognizable through the haze._ What happened last night?

 _And it all came rushing back. Her moms weren’t home, so she invited Lucas over. He—he got a new batch of the good stuff yesterday. He wanted her to try it with him. And she did. He got her drunk and then high, and then high again. She remembered feeling light and floaty and_ happy. _So fucking happy. Happy like there was sugar in her veins and pure chemical joy in her heart._

 _He got her even higher, even drunker as the sun started to set. And she could recall him kissing her. She was a good girlfriend. The best. So good that he gave her whatever she wanted. Made her as high as she wanted_ Such a good girl, _Lucas had told her while he touched her places she could barely feel. He was a few years older, but she didn’t care. It made her happy. It made her proud. He kissed her and undressed her and she let him everywhere. She remembered taking another hit as she redressed herself afterwards. More sugar to shock her system._

_What Nini didn’t remember, however, was passing out on her living room floor. No, that part was a mystery. And so was whoever was yelling at her, or why they were yelling at her._

_Nini started to come to her senses. Her head throbbed, the inevitable hangover catching up with her confusion. But the voices, the yelling. They were coming into focus._

_“_ Nina!” _A woman bellowed._ Mama D. Shit. _Nina cursed silently._ Shit shit shit. _She could hear Mama C sobbing frantically in the background._

 _Nini looked around._ Oh, fuck. _Well, she could understand the fuss now. The new TV was gone. The windows were shattered, the door practically ripped off its hinges. The couch was messy and stained and there was broken wine and beer bottles_ everywhere.

Shit.

 _“This is absolutely unacceptable!” Mama D screamed. “What is wrong with you, Nina?_ What the fuck is wrong with you?”

_Nini stood up slowly on shaky legs, stumbling to the side. The plethora of drugs she had consumed last night were not fully out of her system just yet. Things were…cloudy. Fuzzy. Spinning._

_“Are still fucking high?” Mama D asked, her voice filled to the brim with anger. Mama C was still sobbing in the background. “Are you serious?”_

_“I’m not—” Nini drawled, still trying to get her bearings. “I’m sober—I-I’m sober.”_

_“I can’t believe this right now—after all of that money we spent on rehab—you little bitch—” Nini flinched._

_Mama C surged forward, pointing a finger in Nini’s face. “You ungrateful bitch! After all we have done for you, this is how you use your life!” Nini felt tears brimming her eyes. Her mom’s broken face stared back at her. “Get out!”_

_“Mom, m-moms—please. I swear I won’t use anymore—I promise.” Nini wondered if Lucas would pick up if she called him right now._

_“That’s what you said last time—and the time before that—and the time before that!” Mama D gritted out._

_“No! I swear, last night was the last time. It was my last one before getting better—I swear! I’ll start today, I promise!” Nini wondered if he had any of the good stuff left._

_Mamma C stormed over to the coffee table, plucking something from it, and proceeded to turn around and throw it at Nini’s feet._ Syringes.

_Nini wondered if there was a drop left in them that she could take._

_“This is disgusting—i-it’s_ vile. _” Mama C spat. “We are done giving you money, giving you chances._ ” _She shrieked. “_ So get out of my house!”

“ _Please moms—I’m your daughter—you gotta give me another chance.” Her fingers itched to reach for the syringes on the ground. “P-please”_

_Her moms were silent. Like stone figures, broken faces. Mama D spoke in a low voice._

_“You are no daughter of ours. Get out.”_

_It was too hazy for Nini to protest even more. Too hazy for her to sob. So she did. She left._

* * *

Mama D’s expression was a mix of shock and fear.

Fear of what? Nini wondered. Scared that their drug addict daughter was back to ruin their lives again? To haunt them?

They had kicked her out with nothing but the clothes on her back. Alone, with no money or food in the dead of winter. And Nini couldn’t even blame them. She was—a mess. A nightmare.

Yet she was still mad at them. Mad because they promised they’d love her unconditionally, only for her to find out it had indeed been conditional all along.

Because they abandoned her when she needed them the most.

The last time she saw them, she was pale. Sick and sickly looking. Gaunt and red-eyed. Damp with booze, mascara smudged everywhere. High.

Now she was sweaty and flushed from Ricky’s kisses. She practically _glowed_ from his affection. Her lips swollen, her hair out of place. She was dressed in expensive clothes carrying bags of expensive goods. She had a fine, respectable looking man on her arm. She was healthy. Sober.

Nini swallowed thickly.

Should she tell them it was her? Would they believe her if she lied? No, the question was—would she let them crawl back into her life now that she was _okay?_

Nini had been broken. Calling out for help. Their solution was to get rid of the problem all together. To get rid of her.

And now she was fixed. Fixed because of the Spades, because of Ricky. She was a pretty doll, shiny and new, wrapped up in a little bow. Should she give this version of herself back to her moms?

She glanced at Ricky quickly, finding him staring at her with slight confusion, slight concern. She _did_ look like a deer in headlights with this altercation. But his brown eyes comforted her. His familiar face calmed her down. And a voice rang through her head. A message.

_You found your family now._

Nini straightened herself out, brushing a piece of hair from her face. She smiled brightly.

“I’m so sorry, I think you have the wrong person,” she said in a sugar coated, polite voice.

Her moms still looked shellshocked. Mama C tried to regain some of her composure.“N-no. I’m sorry, we must have mistaken you.” She chucked nervously. “It’s just that—you look so much like—”

“My apologies, we must be going now,” Nini’s voice was still sweet as candy as she linked her arm through Ricky. “It was nice to talk to you, though.” She made a little wave.

“Yeah—you-you too—oh!”

Nini bumped into Mama D’s shoulder as she walked past them, as if they were insignificant, inconveniences in the middle of the sidewalk.

When they were a couple paces far enough so that her moms wouldn’t hear her, Nini let out a shaky breathe. None of Jen’s spy training could have prepared her for _that._ She was impressed with herself.

Ricky looked down at her, but she kept them walking. “Were those—were those your moms?!” He whisper-exclaimed.

“They were no one important.” She said, a sense of finality in her voice.

“Nini, if they were your moms and you need to talk to them—or to someone about it—”

“It’s fine, Ricky. Seriously.” She let them come to a stop, bringing her fingers to stroke his jaw. “I mean it—they’re no one important.”

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you think! xoxo


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